The Akron Zips men's basketball team is returning to the NCAA Tournament for an unprecedented third consecutive season. The Zips secured their bid with a 79-76 win over Toledo in the Mid-American Conference Tournament title game.
Akron had never made it into March Madness in back-to-back seasons until a year ago. The 29-5 Zips are also the first men's team to win three straight MAC Tournaments.
This will be Akron's seventh trip overall to the tournament and the Zips are seeking their first win.
So what seed will they earn and who might they play? Let's see what some college basketball experts are predicting for Akron.
Akron basketball men's NCAA Tournament bracketology
Both the bracket of CBS Sports' Jerry Palm and ESPN's Joe Lunardi are in agreement when it comes to Akron's seed, opponent and region. Both have the Zips as a 12 seed playing fourth-seeded St. John's in the East Region. Lunardi's bracket has the game in Tampa.
St. John's was the Big East's regular-season and tournament champion, going 28-6. The Red Storm routed UConn 72-52 in the Big East title game Saturday.
USA Today's bracket has Akron as an 11 seed playing sixth-seeded North Carolina in Oklahoma City in the Midwest Region. The Akron-UNC game is part of a bracket in which the winner would play the (7) Nebraska/(14) Wright State winner.
North Carolina is 24-8 after losing its final game of the regular season (to Duke) and its first game of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament (to Clemson in the quarterfinals). The Tar Heels also are without star freshman forward Caleb Wilson, who is done for the season after breaking his right thumb March 5.
The Akron Beacon Journal sports department can be contacted via email at bjsports@thebeaconjournal.com.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Akron Zips March Madness bracket predictions for 2026 NCAA Tournament